Improvement in furnaces for coal-oil stills



J.RBBSB. FURNAGB FOR GOAL OIL STILLS.

No. 35,838. Patented July 8, 1852.

, l I Il A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J AGOB REESE, 0F PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES FOR COAL-OIL STILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,838, dated July S, 1882.

To all whom ib may concern:

Be itknown that I, JACOB REEsE, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of `ll:"ennsy1vania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction ofl Fur- .Petroleum and oil produced from coal, Which- I shall designate by the general name of car bon oil, are of a highly volatile nature, and boil at a' louY degree of heat as compared with other oils, so that itrequires great care and attention to prevent the liquid contents of the still boiling over into the Worms, through which the vapor alone should pass.v This of course would spoil the Whole of the distilled oil in the condenser by mixing with it that which is 'impure and highly colored.` This -difculty is in a great measure overcome by the use of large stills, because Where the body of o il is greater a much higher heat may be4 applied to Ithestill Without raising the temperature of its contents to a dangerous degree, but only hastening the process of dis'- tillation. A further reason is that carbon oil,

being very volatile and highly inflammable, and its vapor, when admiXed with a certain proportion of atmosphericair, being highly explosive, the greatest care is required in the process of distillation. To prevent accident from these causes it is therefore important to employ as few stills as possible in a manufactory, so as to reduce the liability to thesedisasters, for a still of large capacity requires no more Watching or care, and is easier to manage,.than a small one. Then, again, the product of distillation from a large still vis much more uniform than from a small one,'

because it is easier to preserve a uniform degree of heat in the use of the former than of the latter.

A. great practical difficulty in the use of stills of large capacity has hitherto prevented their successful adaption. This proceeds from the extreme tenuit'y of carbon oil, which makes it verydifficult to construct a vessel, even of metal, with joints sufficiently close to vprevent its leaking.y Stills of castiron have been tried; but these are very unsafe, owing to their liability toerack, especially when of large size, and any leak or crack in a still used for the distillation of carbon oil is in the highest degree dangerous, becauseif its contents are allowed .toreach the re a conflagrationv or explosion would be the immediate result.

In stills made of wrought-iron or other sheet metal, even when the joints are carefully `lapped and riveted, the contraction and eX- pansion of the metal by the heat and change of temperature will open the seams and rivet-4 holes sufiiciently to lallow vthe oil to escape.

To remedy this, stills have been made of large diameter, with the bottom plate, which 1s eX- posed to the direct action of the re, in one piece; but there is ofcourse a limit to this, as sheets of Wrought-iron cannot be made beyond av certain size, and a short still of large diameter is not by any means so good as one of small diameter and greater length, as in the former the fire-surface is necessarily too small for the bulk of oil it contains to effect a rapid distillation.' For these reasons a still Ofcomparatively small diameter lis best, as it can be made of any desired length by rivetting the sheets together, provided some efficient means can be devised to prevent the leaking ofthe oil at the lap or through the rivet-holes.

'If it be desired to make the still of cast-iron, the same difficulty occurs of 'keeping the joints tight where the sections are bolted together; and it is the design of my improvement to construct the stills, Whether of cast or Wrought iron, or other metal, and set them in their furnace in such manner as that the `joints and seams of the still which' are wlthin the re chamber shall be effectually ,protected from the action of the fire.

-To enable others skilled iu the art to construct and use my improved stills and furnaces, I Will proceed to describe their con- ,rower dimension of Hue: fr

to end, forming a still of any desired length. If constructed of wrought-iron, copper, or other sheet metal, the sheets are curved round, as in the making of boilers, the width or narthe sheet being parallel to the axis of the cylinder. The sheets forming the lower part or bottom of the still are of such length as to extend over that part of the still which` is exposed to the action of the fire in the fire-chamber of the furnace, which will be usually from one-third to one-half of its perimeter, and the ends of the sheets should be lapped and riveted in all cases at a point above the line of contact of the side or bottom of the still with the walls ot' the tire-chamber of the furnace b. It', however, the lapping of asheet, or of the ends of two sheets, should occur on the under side ot' a still parallel to its axis within the lire-chamber, such joint is covered and protected from the action of the fire iu the manner hereinafter better to avoid, if possible, having any of the joints parallel to the axis of the still within the fire-chamber. The sides-of these metallic sheets are lapped and riveted, as many sections being united together as are requisite to form a still of the desired length, and the ends are closed with heads in the usual Way. The sheets composing the still had better be ofthe same width for the sake of uniformity in building the furnace. The furnace b is built with a lire-chamber, d, of the length and Width of the still,which is set-overit, the sides of the furnace inclosing the fire-chamber being built close to the sides and ends of the still, so that the tire cannot extend around the top ofthe still, and that any oil which may leak from the seams in the upper halt' of the still cannot Iind its way into the re-chamber- The nre-chamber Z is divided into sections or compartments by the partition-walls c e,

which are placed the same distance from eenter to center as the distance between the seams or joints of the sides of the sheets coin posing the still. These partition-walls are built up close tothe undersurface of the still, the top of the walls being inverted arcs of a circle of the same radius as the still, and before the still is placed on these partition-walls (which serve to support it) over the tire-cham-A ber, the top ofeaeh partition-wall e is covered with cement, so that the rivets and lap-joint at each seainaround the still are embedded in cement, making the joints perfectly tight and completely protecting the under side of the still wherever the lap-joints and rivets occur from the action of the re. The compartments thus formed in the lire chamber are thrown together by arching the partition-walls c c, so as to allow the iire'and heat to pass freely from one to the other. thus equalizing the temperature and preventing one part of the still from being exposed to a higher degree of heat than another. Back of these compartments is a with which each connects, and from' described; but it is far\ which the chimney g is carried, the arrangement and location of the ilue and chimney being varied at pleasure. y this construction iit will bevscenthat' a still may be made of any required length or capacity, and witha fire-.chamber under it throughout its cnt-ire lengthand yet at no point is any seam, joint, or rivet exposed to the action o1' the iire, nor can any oil escaping from any such joint or seam or rivet-holc reach the fire. In case the large diameterof. the still should .render it vnecessary to have one end of. the seams or joints, which are parallel to its axis, in such a position as to lie within the tire-chamber, or if, byv accident, one of the scams should beso placed, it may be'covered substantially in the manner hereinbefore described, by building a wall under each joint or seam and in close con-l tact therewith, such wallbeing arched or otherwise so raised above the gratebars of the furnace as to allow the fire to pass free] y uu der and on both sides of' it.

On the top of the still are placed the goosenecks c c, which are constructed and attached in the usual manner. In my stills, however, -instead of employing only one goose-neck to each still, as has heretofore been the practice, I empl-oy two or more, each goose-neck being connected with a separate worm or condensing pipe. lIhe object of this increase inthe number of goose-necks is that thereby I am` enabled to make use of worms or condensing pipes of smaller diameter than-would otherwise sufce to carry olf` the vapor generated in the still, for as in two eylinders'ot` equal length and different diameter the smaller one has a larger surface in proportion to its contents than the larger, therefore by reducing the diameter of the eondensingpipes and increasing their number I obtain a greater amount ot' condensing-surface, and am able to hasten the process of distillation, especially in stills of large capacity.

Having thus described my improvement'in the mode of constructing and setting stills for the distillation of carbon oil, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure lby Letters Patent, is 1 The mode hereinbeforc described of constructing stills, the bottom of which is composed of more than one piece, and furnaces therefor in such manner that all the joints, seams, and rivets which are placed inside. ci the tire-chamber shall rest upon or be covered by walls or supports'of brick-work or cement, and thus protected from the direct action of the fire, substantially in the manner and for the purpose hereinbeforc setforth.

In testimonyl whereof I, the said .Tavoli Ricnsn, have hereunto setniy hand.

JACOB REESE.

Witnesses;

M. G. CUsHINc, A. S. NICHOLSON. 

